A significant percentage of the United States Postal Service (USPS) revenue is from metered postage. Generally, postage or any VBI may be printed by mechanical meters or computer-based systems. Conventionally, postage meters print metered postage in the form of a special mark, also known as postal indicia, on mail pieces. Conventionally, a business or other entity will have a postage meter at its place of business, and will use the meter to print postal indicia on mail pieces or on labels that are then affixed to the mail pieces.
The USPS has responded to recent technological developments in the telecommunication and computer field by developing its Information Based Indicia Program (IBIP) that provides specifications for the development of new technology to produce new forms of postage. In so-called PC Postage, a user will subscribe to a third party PC postage provider having a central server location. The subscriber may utilize postage software made available by the central server, to download postage value to the user's computer. The user can then print the postage indicia, by an ordinary laser or ink jet printer, directly onto the mail piece itself (onto a standard business envelope), or onto a label to be applied to the mail piece.
As an incentive to subscribe to their service, third party providers of PC postage or other VBIs often offer potential new subscribers free postage value or other promotional incentives. Currently, PC postage providers credit the entire amount of free postage value to a new subscriber's meter when the customer signs up for the online postage service. The user may utilize the postage value credited to their meter to print postage indicia onto a mail piece or onto a label to be applied to a mail piece. The postage service provider must retain a large percentage of new subscribers to offset the liability incurred by providing free postage value to new subscribers.
The need to retain new subscribers is exacerbated by USPS regulations that prohibit the withdrawal of money (i.e. postage value) credited to a customer's postage meter. Therefore, postage service providers can not recoup free postage value credited to a customer's postage meter that is not used by that customer.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus for controlling the distribution of free postage value in a PC postage system.